India Convicts 4 Men Accused of Gang Rape

A court in India declaredthe four men accused of gang raping a photojournalist last year to be guilty.

The men were charged with gang rape, unnatural sex and the destruction of evidence, BBC reports. They are due to be sentenced on Friday. A fifth man who was thought to have been under 18 at the time of the incident is due to be tried in a juvenile court.

The 22-year-old journalist was attacked by the five men in a deserted mill in August 2013 while she was on assignment. The male colleague who was with her was violently beaten during the incident. The Home Minister for the state of Maharashtra, R.R. Patil, said that justice had been served.

“The verdict will send a strong message to criminals,” he said. “It will deter such crimes in future.”

The incident stoked public outrage across the country, particularly since it came not long after a 23-year-old student died from injuries sufferd while being gang-raped on a bus in Delhi in December of 2012.